15 Top Midjourney Alternatives in 2024 (Free & Paid)
Midjourney a premium AI art generator that converts text to images no longer offers its freemium model to its users.
However, many free or cost-effective alternatives are available that are providing similar or even superior functionalities.
This article outlines 15 such alternatives to Midjourney, providing a comprehensive guide to understanding their benefits and potential drawbacks.
These alternatives offer a wide range of options for generating varying types of images such as realistic, surrealistic among others.
This article will help users in finding an AI image generator suitable for their specific needs whether it is for professional use or personal use.
I want to empower you with the freedom to create unique, compelling AI art without being tied exclusively to the Midjourney platform.
Let’s get started!
Best Midjourney Alternatives
The below list comprises of free, freemium and paid alternatives:
1. Stable Diffusion
Stable Diffusion developed by Stability AI is an open-source text-to-image model rivaling proprietary options like Midjourney.
It’s accessible even on a local PC with at least 8GB of VRAM.
Built on a range of platforms including Latent Diffusion Models and OpenAI’s ADM codebase, Stable Diffusion is a prevalent choice for websites and apps for quick image generation from text.
Although image quality is somewhat inferior to Midjourney especially regarding the rendering of eyes, hands and fingers, the latest Stable Diffusion XL Beta is trying to match it.
Many ethical concerns have been raised about the potential misuse for deepfakes but its benefits include free usage, speedy image creation process and customization options for unique AI images.
However, the model does require a learning curve and it’s less beginner-friendly.
Stable Diffusion’s capability to generate and modify images based on text makes it a compelling Midjourney alternative.
Link to Stable Diffusion [Free]
2. Leonardo.Ai
Leonardo.Ai, a new text-to-image generation model is rapidly gaining attention as an excellent alternative to Midjourney.
Although it is currently only available to a select few early-bird users, anyone can explore its robust capabilities on its Discord server.
Primarily designed to generate game assets like environments, buildings, items and helmets, Leonardo.Ai provides a range of artistic tools for creating production-ready visuals.
This free AI image platform has an engaging Discord community with the development team providing regular updates.
Leonardo.Ai offers multiple models for image generation, even allowing users to train their AI model for personalized environments. Notably, it excels in generating accurate human faces, free from eye blemishes.
The platform, however, is restricted to early-bird users at present.
If you’re looking for a capable text-to-image model like Midjourney, Leonardo.Ai is an excellent option, particularly for generating game assets and character portraits.
Link to Leonardo.Ai [Early Access]
3. DALL-E 2
DALL-E 2 developed by OpenAI is a compelling alternative to Midjourney for generating high-quality, photorealistic images from natural language descriptions.
An advanced successor to DALL-E, DALL-E 2 outputs images in 4x better resolution and showcases improved accuracy.
Unlike free models, DALL-E 2 requires the purchase of credits post the initial 15 free ones.
DALL-E 2 stands out with its ability to understand prompts, blend concepts, styles and attributes for unique images and its features like Inpainting that allows element removal.
Furthermore, it can expand images to create new canvases, add shadows, textures and reflections, making it a versatile tool.
A unique feature of DALL-E 2 is its ability to predict and extend images for a seamless, full scene, offering creative freedom for AI image editing.
However, it comes at a higher cost and the sign-up process can be time-consuming.
4. StarryAI
StarryAI is an AI-powered text-to-art generator that turns text prompts into striking art pieces in seconds.
Available on Android, iOS and web, it offers a plethora of models, styles, aspect ratios and initial images to customize your art.
Users maintain full ownership of their creations, usable for personal or commercial purposes, with the added feature of free NFT generation.
The app is user-friendly, with easy image storage and sharing.
It provides 5 free credits upon starting and additional credits can be bought via Pro membership, starting at $15.99 for 40 credits.
A notable feature is using a reference photo to guide the AI in image creation.
While the AI adeptly interprets most prompts, complexity can sometimes yield confusing outputs.
StarryAI stands out for its customization options, such as choosing AI type, Canvas Size, Model and Runtime.
5. Bing Image Creator
Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator is an AI art generator that is integrated into Bing AI Chat and it provides free image generation using OpenAI’s DALL·E model.
This tool can be accessed in any web browser and through Bing Chat, which also enables image editing like changing colors or altering certain elements.
The interface is highly user-friendly, making it a more approachable option compared to Midjourney.
The first 100 images are generated quickly each day but subsequent images take longer to produce.
While the quality of the generated images by Bing Image Creator may not match Midjourney’s and it sometimes struggles with human faces or creates distorted images, Bing Image Creator is efficient in generating AI images on abstract concepts.
It generates 1:1 images but offers limited customization options.
However, for those who want a free Midjourney alternative, Bing Image Creator which is accessible via web, Android and iPhone offers a viable option.
Link to Bing Image Creator [Free]
6. Adobe Firefly
Adobe Firefly, an AI image generator developed to compete with platforms like Midjourney, offers a range of creative tools such as text-to-image generation, image expansion, vector recoloring, text effects, inpainting and sketch-to-image, although many are still in development.
It allows users to enter a prompt in natural language and produces four varied images in response.
Users can choose content types like Art, Graphic, Photo, or None and adjust elements like color, tone, lighting and composition.
While Adobe Firefly generates landscapes and other concepts swiftly, it’s less effective with photorealistic human subjects.
A unique feature is “Text Effects” that enables effect application within characters and words.
The AI image generator, currently free, is expected to show immense potential once integrated with the Creative Cloud Suite.
Despite being in beta, the platform exhibits impressive image quality but carries the Adobe Firefly (Beta) watermark on exported images.
Link to Adobe Firefly [Free in Beta]
7. Fotor AI Image Generator
Fotor is an online photo editor that has released a user-friendly AI image generator with a wide variety of art styles for creating digital art, photorealistic pictures, fantasy illustrations and more.
This web-based tool stands out for its rapid image output and is free to use, permitting 10 free images per day.
Fotor AI Image Generator requires detailed prompts from users and can generate images from user-supplied images.
It produces high-quality images requiring minimal editing and offers adjustable settings for styles, ratios and lighting.
The service has no limit on image prompt size and facilitates quick downloading of the output.
While Fotor is one of the leading free AI art generators, its fast generation mode is fee-based.
Link to Fotor AI Image Creator [Freemium]
8. Nightcafe
NightCafe is a website service providing access to various text-to-image models like Stable Diffusion, DALL-E 2, CLIP-Guided Diffusion, VQGAN+CLIP and Style Transfer.
Used by millions globally, this popular AI art generator offers various image styles, such as anime, 3D, realistic, surreal and more.
It also includes a “style transfer” feature, which transposes the style from one image onto another.
Users also benefit from a vibrant AI art community where they can find inspiration.
However, NightCafe isn’t entirely free – only three free credits are given upon sign-up, with additional use requiring paid or earned credits.
Some drawbacks include low-resolution images (high-resolution images require a fee) and the potential time it takes to generate images.
Despite these limitations, NightCafe remains a user-friendly platform for comparing various image models, available in both web and app versions.
9. Jasper Art
Jasper Art is a powerful, user-friendly AI art generator capable of creating a wide variety of images from photo-realistic to cartoon-style pictures and 3D renders.
The tool uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to bring your creative ideas to life.
Jasper Art features an AI writing tool for creating various forms of written content.
As a free, AI-powered art generator Jasper Art stands as a robust alternative to Midjourney.
It uses advanced AI painting technology to quickly generate a diverse range of styles.
Users should experiment with their input language to optimize the generated artwork.
Some of the key features include the use of AI to create unique visuals, multilingual support, live chat assistance and the utilization of copywriting templates.
Despite its easy-to-use interface, rapid image generation and a variety of styles a noted drawback is the occasional distortion of faces in generated images.
10. InvokeAI
InvokeAI is a user-friendly implementation of Stable Diffusion, a text-to-image and image-to-image generator.
It is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux and operable with GPU cards with just 4GB of RAM, it introduces a variety of features to enhance the image creation process.
The application goes beyond traditional workflows, offering a fully integrated professional suite for creatives.
This includes intuitive tools to draw, edit, iterate, and co-create on a user-friendly canvas.
InvokeAI is suitable for both individual artists and creative teams, serving as an ideal platform to augment the creative process.
It helps users unleash the full potential of AI-driven creativity, sparking a revolution in artistic innovation.
11. InstantArt
InstantArt is an innovative platform that hosts over 25 text-to-image models, allowing users to create AI-generated images with a variety of powerful AI models, including Stable Diffusion and Midjourney V4.
Users can input their prompts in natural language, add negative prompts and select the desired model.
This easy-to-navigate platform allows for free and unlimited image generations, offering a new level of customization and creativity.
The technology ensures high-quality image generation, catering to artists, designers and creators at all levels.
Users can select their preferred image dimensions up to 768×512.
The platform does not automatically select the model, providing an opportunity for exploration and comparison.
Despite its occasional errors, InstantArt’s user-friendly interface and wide selection of models make it an excellent resource for AI-generated art.
12. Craiyon
Craiyon, formerly known as DALL-E Mini, is a free, online AI tool that enables users to generate images without signing up.
Originating from a coding competition by Boris Dayma, it’s based on OpenAI’s DALL·E model, but is not an OpenAI product.
It uses a combination of transformer and generator neural networks to interpret text inputs and turn them into striking visuals.
The tool generates 9 images per prompt and does not require users to choose art styles, providing impressive and diverse outputs.
However, while it’s entirely free, enabling unlimited AI image generation, it includes ads and lacks customization options.
Moreover, the quality of the outputs might be slightly lower compared to other AI image generators, but for those seeking an easy-to-use AI image generator, Craiyon is a worthwhile option.
13. Artbreeder
Artbreeder, a popular artificial intelligence art generator, leverages machine learning to enhance image quality and generate different versions of a subject automatically.
It’s widely used to create diverse artworks like landscapes, anime characters and portraits.
Notably, the tool allows modification of facial features such as skin tone, hair color and eyes.
It also enables transforming photos into animated characters. Artbreeder’s vast library, containing tens of thousands of images organized in folders, enhances user experience.
The platform stands out as one of the best Midjourney alternatives, with capabilities like improved image quality, creation of multiple image iterations and the ability to save artworks in JPG or PNG formats.
14. Dream by WOMBO
Dream by Wombo is an award-winning AI tool and a standout Midjourney alternative and is known for its knowledge of future design, creating unique patterns from text-based prompts.
It is available as a web tool and mobile app and offers a range of artistic expressions and the ability to create cartoons from photos and NFTs.
However, its free access is limited, requiring a subscription for extended use – $10 per month, $90 per year if paid in full or a lifetime subscription available for $170.
Despite the cost, its distinctive features and the convenience of creating images on the go make it a worthwhile choice for many users.
15. Playground AI
Playground AI is an AI image creator website that features Stable Diffusion and DALL-E models.
It stands out by allowing users to generate up to 1,000 images per day for free, with a commercial license included.
Additional tools include DALLE-2, Stable Diffusion 1.5 & 2.0, and Playground’s filters for greater control and desired aesthetics.
Despite some limitations such as fixed image dimensions and restrictions on the DALL-E model and image quality for free users, it is still a good choice for beginners due to its speed in generating images.
Overall, for those seeking a free Midjourney alternative, Playground AI is worth consideration.
Pros:
Free generation of up to 1000 images per day.
Availability of Stable Diffusion and DALL·E.
Quick image generation.
Cons:
Only one image can be generated at a time by free users.
Various limitations for free users.
Link to Playground AI [Free 1000 images per day – paid plan starts at $15 per month)
I hope these alternatives to Midjourney will help you decide which one to choose.
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